UAA to celebrate the Class of 2010 on Sunday, May 2

Dana Fabe, Oliver Leavitt and John Strohmeyer will receive honorary degrees; more than 2,200 students to graduate

ANCHORAGE, AK - The University of Alaska Anchorage will celebrate the 2,237 graduates of the Class of 2010 at the annual Commencement Ceremony on Sunday, May 2 at 3 p.m. at the Sullivan Arena.

A special Graduate Hooding Ceremony will honor graduate students receiving their hoods on Saturday, May 1 at 10 a.m. in the Wendy Williamson Auditorium on UAA's campus.

Commencement is UAA's capstone event celebrating the achievements of its students and the lifetime achievements of extraordinary faculty and community members. UAA will confer degrees on students from the following schools and colleges: Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business and Public Policy, Health and Social Welfare, Education, the Community and Technical College and the School of Engineering. In all, UAA will confer 560 associate degrees, 1,180 bachelor's degrees, 391 master's degrees, and 160 certificates and licenses.

This year's student speaker is Katie Marquette. She grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska and graduated from Austin E. Lathrop High School in 2006. Graduating cum laude with UAA Leadership Honors, Katie will receive a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with an emphasis in Community and Change. Since 2007, she's worked with UAA's Career Services Center to help coordinate several career fairs and workshops. She's conducted important research on the availability of same-sex domestic partner benefits and sexual orientation protections in Alaska's private sector, and has traveled the world to attend prestigious academic conferences. Upon graduating, Katie will begin working with a team of professionals to help manage a state gubernatorial campaign, and hopes to one day attend law school. Read Katie's full bio at http://greenandgold.uaa.alaska.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4861.

Three prominent leaders will be recognized for their many achievements and contributions in service to Alaska, to learning and to humankind: Dana Fabe, Honorary Doctor of Laws; Oliver Leavitt, Honorary Doctor of Laws; and John Strohmeyer, Honorary Doctor of Letters (posthumous award).

Many years of outstanding service to the University and its students will be gratefully recognized with the conferring of emeriti status on three faculty members: Stephen Haycox, Professor Emeritus of History, College of Arts and Sciences; Kerry Feldman, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, College of Arts and Sciences; and Brian Wick, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, College of Arts and Sciences.